ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ann Arbor SPARK recently added two to its team, Joseph Licavoli and Jake Elbers. Licavoli fills a new position as manager of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. Elbers is manager of the SPARK East business incubator. Current Ann Arbor SPARK team member Valerie Christofferson was promoted to senior business development manager.

"Joe and Jake fill key positions at Ann Arbor SPARK, and Valerie is a proven, talented professional whose role is expanding," said Paul Krutko, president and CEO. "The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, the SPARK East business incubator, and our business attraction and retention efforts are at the heart of SPARK's mission to advance economic opportunity throughout the region. It's exciting to have talent on our team that bring vision, commitment, and expertise to Ann Arbor SPARK."

In this new position, Licavoli supports all aspects of operations with the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. He works closely with Skip Simms, Ann Arbor SPARK's senior vice president who is the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund administrator.

Prior to joining Ann Arbor SPARK, Licavoli was senior director of operations, marketing, sales and business development at Southfield, Mich.-based Ramsoft Systems, Inc. He earned his bachelor of business administration degree from Michigan State University.

As manager of the SPARK East business incubator, Albers oversees day-to-day operations as well as tenant contract management, event planning, and community relations. Prior to joining Ann Arbor SPARK, he was the community development coordinator with the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority.

Albers earned a bachelor of art degree in history from Saginaw Valley State University and is pursuing a master of science degree in urban and regional planning from Eastern Michigan University. He is a member of the American Planning Association.

Christofferson has been with Ann Arbor SPARK since 2008, previously serving as a business development manager. As senior business development manager, she'll lead Ann Arbor SPARK's national business attraction efforts, manage relationships with national site consultants and serve as the business consulting lead for western Washtenaw County.

Christofferson is a member of the Michigan Economic Developers Association, the International Economic Development Council and CoreNet Global. She graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor of science in business administration.

About Ann Arbor SPARK

Ann Arbor SPARK, a non-profit organization, is advancing the region by encouraging and supporting business acceleration, attraction and retention. The organization identifies and meets the needs of business at every stage, from start-ups to large organizations. Ann Arbor SPARK collaborates with business, academic, government, and community investor partners including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, Washtenaw County, Livingston County, Washtenaw County etcs/Michigan Works!, the City of Ann Arbor, Bank of Ann Arbor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. For more information, please call (734) 761-9317 or visit www.AnnArborUSA.org.